Outrunning Gender

South African runner Caster Semenya might be as difficult to categorize as she is to catch. She also might prompt debate on the physiological nature of male and female as it relates to competition, and eventually help establish lines for who belongs in which camp.

Sounds like an awful lot for a teenager who simply runs fast.

Semenya is the 18-year-old who dusted the competition in the women’s 800 meters at the track and field World Championships in Berlin. For the past several months, various competitors and observers have wondered aloud whether she is actually a woman, because of her build and other physical characteristics, as well as her remarkable improvement over a relatively short period.

The IAAF, track and field’s governing body, is overseeing gender tests, which are far more involved than simply, shall we say, checking under the hood. The New York Times ran an informative piece last week that’s worth your time, but suffice it to say that male and female isn’t always about just genitalia.

As one U.S. doctor who specializes in sexual differentiation put it: “For 99 percent of the population, (gender) is easy to determine. But one percent of the population have conditions that make it not so straightforward.”

The arguments fall along predictable lines. The skeptics say, “Look at her. That ain’t female.” Her family says, “We grew up with her. Of course she’s female.” Her advocates also cite competitive jealousy and even float the idea of racial and anti-African bias.

Semenya’s case takes us down the familiar path of what’s acceptable, what’s desirable, from female athletes. The criteria, of course, are always set by we enlightened types with beards and outdoor plumbing.

It’s OK to be Danica Patrick or Maria Sharapova or Candace Parker, examples of idealized attractiveness who just happen to compete athletically. Women who are less attractive, thicker, carry themselves “like men” are widely ignored by the male sporting public, or viewed suspiciously if their achievements are too great to be dismissed.

One of the most striking examples of that dynamic (old guy alert) was the tennis rivalry between Chris Evert – now Mrs. Greg Norman – and Martina Navratilova. Evert was the cute, ponytailed girl-next-door, while Navratilova was the thicker, stronger, aggressive (read: masculine) Eastern European – and (gasp!) a lesbian to boot.

While appearance factors into much of the discussion of women’s athletics, in Semenya’s case there’s a scientific component, as well. A gynecologist, an endocrinologist, an internal medicine specialist and experts on gender will evaluate test results and make a determination.

Pitch it forward. Say that tests confirm she is 100 percent female, with no genetic irregularities. Then, she is simply the female, middle-distance version of Usain Bolt.

But what if a battery of tests reveals that Semenya’s body produces more testosterone than the typical female, or that she has some other rare genetic condition that explains her build, her gait, her ability? What then?

What’s significant enough for her to be disqualified from competing as a woman? Is there anything she could do about it? Would she even want to?

As science catches up to our curiosity and a body of evidence is collected in the coming years, what will constitute male and female?

Elite athletes already are different than the rest of the population. Will extensive testing simply provide explanations as to why, or will it be used to separate people, as justification for categorizing certain people as freaks? This level of testosterone is permissible, but that level is not. This genetic line hasn’t been crossed, but that one has.